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Stanford Women Bounce Colorado, Advance To Pac-12 Tournament Semifinal

SEATTLE (CBS/AP) - Chiney Ogwumike scored 13 of her 19 points in the second half, and No. 4 Stanford overcame its worst scoring first half of the season to knock off pesky Colorado 69-54 in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Conference tournament Friday.

Ogwumike, the conference player of the year, gave Stanford the lead for good with a rare 3-pointer early in the second half that was part of a 16-2 run by the Cardinal to take control.

Stanford, the top seed in the tournament, was held to a season-low 21 points in the first half. The Cardinal (29-2) will face either No. 5 seed USC or fourth-seeded Arizona State in the semifinals Saturday night. Stanford has won seven straight conference tourney titles.

Colorado (17-14) was led by 16 points from Brittany Wilson.

Stanford outscored Colorado 48-31 in the second half, starting to knock down perimeter shots. Lili Thompson finished with 16 points and Bonnie Samuelson added 15.

Haley Smith was the only other Colorado player in double figures with 10. After using the 3-pointer to hang around in the first half, the Buffaloes made just 2 of 10 in the final 20 minutes.

Ogwumike, who had attempted only nine 3-pointers all season and made two, knocked down an open 3 to give Stanford the lead for good at 30-28. Thompson then scored the next eight points for the Cardinal, including a fallaway while being fouled. The three-point play gave the Cardinal a 38-30 lead with 15:12 remaining.

Samuelson added a 3 that touched every part of the rim, and the Cardinal led by 11, nearly matching their entire first-half scoring output in the opening 5 ½ minutes of the second. The Cardinal lead reached 19 before a late Colorado run.

Colorado did its best to deny Ogwumike open looks on the inside and also did a good job in the first half of not letting her dominate the offensive boards. Ogwumike was 2 of 6 shooting and had just one offensive rebound. Meanwhile, none of the Cardinal outside shooters could get going to open up space for her.

Samuelson was 1 of 6 shooting and missed all four 3-point attempts. Stanford was 1 of 10 from behind the 3-point line in the first half and shot 24 percent overall.

But Colorado couldn't create separation because the Buffaloes were having their own shooting woes.

Brittany Wilson's 3 with 38 seconds left gave Colorado a 23-21 lead, and Stanford trailed at halftime for the fifth time this season and third time in the last month.

© Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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